Sound Tigers Notebook: Sound Tigers take home monthly AHL awards

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, February 1, 2012

BRIDGEPORT -- After going 10-0-0-1 in the month of January it was safe to assume that some of the Sound Tigers players would be taking home some hardware.

Goaltender Kevin Poulin was one of them as he was awarded the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month.

Poulin made seven appearances during the month and allowed 11 goals on 216 shots. He went 6-0-1 with a 1.52 goals-against average, a .949 save percentage and three shutouts.

The three shutouts came in consecutive games as well.

Poulin wasn't the only Sound Tiger to win an award this past month.

Center Casey Cizikas was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Month.

Cizikas tallied eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points in the month. He also registered a plus-14 rating.

In addition to winning player of the month, Cizikas was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 29.

Cizikas recorded three points in all three games last week. For the week he totaled four goals and five assists for nine points along with a plus-5 rating.

The center leads the Sound Tigers in points (38), assists (24) and is tied for the lead in goals (14).

He was the second Sound Tiger player to win the award this month as Poulin won the award two weeks ago.

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After being recalled from the Sound Tigers on Monday, Poulin got the start in net for the Islanders Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Poulin stopped 21 of 23 shots and led the Islanders to a 5-2 win.

"He [Poulin] made some big-time saves, especially against some pretty good hockey players at key moments in the game," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. "I thought he played exceptionally well and gave us a chance to win this game tonight."

The 21-year-old Poulin had started two other games this season for the Islanders, but this was his first win.

Poulin's stay with the Islanders didn't last very long as he was returned to Bridgeport following the game. He did not practice with the team Wednesday, but that was to be expected considering Tuesday's game was in North Carolina.

He will be with the team for their game Friday in Portland.

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Along with Poulin, right winger Rhett Rakhshani was called up to the Islanders on Monday. It was Rakhshani's first call-up of the season. He played in two games with the Isles last season.

Rakhshani also played in Tuesday's win, but did not record a point. He remains with the Islanders.

The 23-year-old has nine goals and 16 assists in 27 games this season with the Sound Tigers after missing the first 17 games due to a concussion. He represented the Sound Tigers at the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic and was named to the AHL All-Rookie First Team.

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The Sound Tigers did not let the end of their winning streak keep them down. After falling to St. John's last Wednesday night, Bridgeport won both games last weekend both on the road.

The two wins increase the team's road winning streak to a team-record seven games.

Bridgeport is 10-0-0-1 in their last 11 games and is currently atop the standings in the Northeast Division.

On Jan. 1 the Sound Tigers were 14 points out of first place in the division, and now they are two points up.

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After re-establishing themselves as one of the best penalty killing teams in the league, Bridgeport has cooled off of late and now ranks 19th in the AHL. They are killing penalties at an 81.6 percent rate.

The power play unit has stayed at the bottom of the league for virtually the entire season. As of today they are ranked 24th, scoring at a 15.6 percent clip.

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The Sound Tigers will play their first game after the All-Star break tonight when they travel to Portland to take on the Pirates and will look to increase their team-record road winning streak to eight games.

Following the game the team will return to Bridgeport to face the Manchester Monarchs at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Webster Bank Arena.